Apparatus for receiving adaptive broadcast signal and method thereof

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for receiving an adaptive broadcast signal and method thereof are disclosed. The present invention includes linking an IP network, sending network environment information for a receiver and program selection information to a service provider via the linked IP network, and providing the receiver with at least one service in available service information for a program selected by a user based on the sent network environment information.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/848,366, filed on Oct. 2, 2006, in the name of inventors Jin Pil KIM,Ho Taek HONG, Jong Yeul SUH and Joon Hwi LEE, titled “APPARATUS FORRECEIVING ADAPTIVE BROADCAST SIGNAL AND METHOD THEREOF”, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for receiving an adaptivebroadcast signal and a method thereof, and more particularly, to abroadcast receiver and broadcast receiving method. Although the presentinvention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it isparticularly suitable for receiving an adaptive broadcast signalaccording to a receiver environment.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

FIGS. 1A to 1C show a broadcast receiving method according to a relatedart.

Referring to FIGS. 1A to 1C, in a related art TV, contents provided by abroadcasting station are transmitted via a radiowave transferring mediumsuch as a broadcast network and the like by a cable broadcast provider,a terrestrial broadcast provider or a satellite broadcast provider. Aviewer receives a corresponding service in a manner of viewing thecontents via a TV receiver capable of receiving each of the transfermedia.

As the digital based TV technology has been developed and commercializedfrom the conventional analog TV broadcasting, various contents includingreal-time broadcasting, CoD (contents on demand), games, news and thelike can be provided to viewers via Internet networks connected to homeas well as the conventional radiowave media.

As an example of the contents providing via the internet network, thereis an internet protocol TV (IPTV). The IPTV means a service forproviding information services, moving picture contents, broadcasts andthe like to a television using high-speed internet networks.

The IPTV is identical to normal cable broadcasting or satellitebroadcasting in providing broadcast contents including video. Yet, theIPTV is characterized in having bi-directionality in addition. Differingfrom terrestrial broadcasting, cable broadcasting or satellitebroadcasting, the IPTV enables a user to view a specific program at aspecific time convenient to the user.

However, a broadcast receiver may have a network speed for receiving abroadcast stream, which varies according to a network environment. And,a service transport speed of the broadcast receiver may vary accordingto a user level sorted according to a billing system or the like. Hence,a service provider needs to modify a broadcast transmission according tothe user level.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus forreceiving an adaptive broadcast signal and method thereof thatsubstantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations anddisadvantages of the related art.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, amethod of receiving an adaptive broadcast signal according to thepresent invention includes the steps of linking an IP network, sendingnetwork environment information for a receiver and program selectioninformation to a service provider via the linked IP network, andproviding the receiver with at least one service in available serviceinformation for a program selected by a user based on the sent networkenvironment information.

In another aspect of the present invention, an adaptive broadcastreceiver includes a network interface unit transceiving a broadcaststream capsulated into an IP packet by connecting the broadcast receiverto a service provider via a network, a control unit controlling contentsencoded at a bit rate suitable for a network environment of thebroadcast receiver to be received in a manner of sending networkenvironment information for the broadcast receiver to the serviceprovider via the network interface unit, and a display unit outputtingthe received broadcast stream.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the implementations and are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate implementations andtogether with the description serve to explain the implementations. Inthe drawings;

FIGS. 1A to 1C are diagrams for a broadcast receiving method accordingto a related art;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for system layers of IPTV (IP television);

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram for IPTV system;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system between a service provider and abroadcast receiver;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for IP capsulation in case that a service providerprovides a service to a broadcast receiver via an IP network;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of receiving an adaptive broadcastsignal according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a detailed diagram for a method of receiving an adaptivebroadcast signal according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a data structure to send resource information fora broadcast receiver to a service provider from the broadcast receiveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for encoding of a bandwidth to support a serviceprovider with network environment information according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a data structure to sent network environmentinformation for a broadcast receiver to a service provider from thebroadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an adaptive broadcast receiver accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the implementations, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible,the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to referto the same or like parts.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for system layers of IPTV (IP television).

Referring to FIG. 2, an IPTV system includes a contents provider layer,a service provider layer, a network provider layer, and a consumerlayer.

The contents provider plays a role in providing the service providerwith contents.

The service provider plays a role in providing a service to asubscriber. And, the service provider collects various contents,transforms signals to fit an IP environment, and then delivers thetransformed signals to the consumer. In this case, the service providermay correspond to a virtual existence and the contents provider can bethe service provider.

The network provider plays a role in connecting the consumer and theservice provider together via IP network.

A transport system can use various networks including an access network,a backbone network, etc. The consumer is the layer for receiving abroadcast by being provided with contents. And, the consumer includes aset-top box, a personal computer (PC), a mobile terminal or the like.

A concept of the IPTV is explained in detail in the followingdescription.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram for IPTV system.

Referring to FIG. 3, system layers of IPTV can be mainly categorizedinto a contents provider, a service provider, and a consumer. Thecontents provider can be called a platform provider as well. The threekinds of groups play different roles, respectively.

The contents provider can indicate a group that provides overallservices and data for broadcast programs.

The service provider transmits multimedia data. The service providerprovides the consumer with maintenance and management to enable stablereception of contents. And, the service provider provides the contentsprovider with the infrastructure and functions for capability of networktransmission.

And, the consumer group plays a role in playing data inputted using suchan infrastructure as xDSL, cable and the like or responding to a userrequest promptly. The consumer group mostly includes manufacturers formanufacturing IPTVs and its kinds can be categorized into IPTV, IP STB,IP Phone, and the like. The respective groups are explained in detail asfollows.

First of all, the contents provider group may include a TV station thatproduces a broadcast program. The TV station means a conventionalterrestrial broadcasting station or a cable broadcasting station. Thesebroadcasting stations produce and store programs viewable by consumersand are capable of converting the programs digitally to be transmitted.This is to enable various broadcasting types to be transmitted.

A radio station means a general radio broadcasting station and may havea video channel in some cases. Yet, the radio station is mostly operatedwithout video channel. VoD (video on demand) or AoD (audio on demand)service has characteristics different from those of the TV station orthe radio station.

The contents provider may store and keep a program to be broadcasted.Yet, this program is a live broadcast with continuity. So, this programis characterized in being unable to be rewound or paused to be viewedunless being recorded.

Yet, in case of VoD or AoD, a specific broadcast program, movie or musiccan be stored and then played later to be viewed. For instance, if abroadcast program is currently missed to view due to lack of time, asite providing the broadcast service is accessed to download acorresponding file or play the downloaded file directly. Likewise, theAoD provides a function of recording an audio program or playing anaudio program by real time. MoD (music on demand) service enables a userto download a specific music to listen to. Targets of the MoD servicecan be implemented in a manner that a phonograph record manufacturer ordistributor expands a conventional web service.

An embodiment of a service provided by a contents provider group isexplained as follows.

First of all, a PF server can be serviced by a company that manages allbroadcast information and location information provided by the contentsprovider. This service mainly contains location information necessaryfor a broadcast time or broadcast of a corresponding broadcastingstation and information for enabling a customer to access thecorresponding broadcasting station. The customer is able to obtain anddisplay this information on a screen. The PF server is one of theservices mandatory for each broadcasting station. In the IPTVenvironment, this service is provided to enable a customer to access acorresponding broadcasting station.

EPG service is one of convenient services provided to enable a customerto inquire a broadcast program per a time zone and recognize a broadcastprogram per a channel. The EPG service is configured to be executable ina manner that a corresponding program is automatically installed at acustomer side in advance.

A customer is able to obtain the information for a correspondingbroadcasting station only from a PF server. Yet, the EPG service enablesa customer to obtain information for real-time broadcast channels of allbroadcasting stations at a time. So, the EPG service can be veryconveniently usable. For instance, the EPG service is provided with apowerful function of making a reservation for recording CNN news or areservation for viewing Disney channel. So, the EPG service shouldprovide details of information for broadcast programs in a correspondingarea per a time zone. In particular, in case of a prescribed drama,contents of the drama are searched. The broadcast programs can becategorized into SF, drama, animation, and the like for discrimination.Detailed information for a story or characters of a movie or drama of asimple broadcast program can be included.

One big problem of the EPG service is how to transmit EPG data suitablefor a customer due to too many kinds of licenses of customers who viewIPTV. To access the EPG service, a customer finds and presses an inputkey of a remote controller with ease.

ECG service has all kinds of functions for facilitating a customer touse information for contents possessed by a contents provider, alocation of an access server, an access authority and the like. Inbrief, the functions include a function of facilitating servers havingcontents to be accessed and an electronic program guide (EPG) indicatingdetails of information for contents.

In particular, a load in individually accessing a prescribed contentservice to view or download contents can be reduced in a manner ofbinding services including AoD, MoD and VoD into one such as EPG excepta real-time broadcast.

Similar to the EPG service, the ECG service enables contents stored in aserver to be viewed at any time instead of informing real-time broadcastchannel information. And, the ECG service enables contents to bedownloaded and stored. If a customer attempts to access a server havingcorresponding contents, the customer has difficulty in obtaining anaddress or accessing PF servers. This is a very complicated process andconsumes considerable time. A company providing ECG enables an ECGprogram to be automatically installed in a customer, collectsinformation for all kinds of contents, and provides the correspondingdata. In order to access an ECG service, a customer just clicks an inputkey button on a remote controller as well.

A portal server is connected to a broadcasting station via a web serviceprovided by each broadcasting station or connected to a web server of acompany servicing contents. The portal server plays a role in searchingor viewing a program list provided by each broadcasting station or eachcontents provider providing a contents service. This can be consideredas a function of ECG or EPG. Yet, a portal service is equipped with sucha function as user authentication or license contract. So, an access isneeded to view a specific program. Although ECG or EPG provides aunified broadcast or contents list, the portal service providesbroadcast or contents list information for a corresponding programproviding company to enable detailed search. In order to access a portalservice, a customer just clicks a portal input button on a remotecontroller.

Thus, the contents provider side should include a function of providingthose services and the like. If it is attempted to normally operate thefunctions, servers of service companies should be access IP network totransmit a corresponding program by real time or transmit broadcastinformation.

And, the respective broadcasting stations or the service companiesshould be connected to a network of a service provider for errorlesstransmission without delay. So, they should have a system fortransmitting multimedia data using internet real-time protocol such asRTP, RTSP, RSVP, MPLS and the like.

For instance, in case that a TV studio currently providing news attemptsto transmit multimedia by real time, if the multimedia includes MPEG-2and AC-3 audio specifications, a transcoding work for converting them tofit a format of IPTV should be carried out. After a server for executingthis work has been passed, a system is configured in a manner thatRTP/UDP protocol including time information for matching caption orlip-sync is attached to pass through IP network provided by a serviceprovider.

The service provider provides stability and bandwidth of network toenable multimedia data and broadcast data to be well transmitted by acontents provider. Service providers are able to provide IPTV servicesusing a conventional cable network. In this case, equipments of deliverynetwork need to be changed. In particular, network equipments capable ofreal-time data transmission should be provided for configuration and acustomer should configure a network by considering a bandwidth. Theequipments should reduce a bandwidth by processing massive multimediadata using a multicast service as a basic network service of IPTV. If abandwidth is not secured, a service provider changes an optical cablenetwork configuration or transcodes multimedia data from a contentsprovider into MPEG-4 or MPEG-7 formatted data with efforts to secure abandwidth and then transmits the corresponding data. For this, theservice provider should provide several kinds of services including NMS(network management system), DHCP (dynamic host control protocol), andCDN services.

The NMS service enables a service provider to manage a delivery networkfor a delivery to each customer and an IPTV receiver of thecorresponding customer. In particular, in case that a broadcastreception is not available for a customer due to a technical difficultyof a delivery network, a means for emergency processing should beprovided.

The NMS is widely used as a standardized means for controlling andmanaging machined in a remote transport layer. Using this service, it isable to check how many traffics are generated for a prescribed broadcastor which area is in short of bandwidth. The NMS service should beprovided to contents providers to enable the corresponding contentsprovider to generate and manage groups in multicast. This is becausemore multicast groups may need to be generated occasionally.

The DHCP service enables an IP to be automatically allocated to an IPTVreceiver of a customer and is used to inform an address of a CDN server.The DHCP service is a useful means for allocating IP to a PC on ageneral network. By transmitting an accessible address to an authorizedIPTV receiver, a user is allowed to make a registration procedure for aninitial access. Generally, an IPTV receiver will provide IPv4. Yet, IPv6is also available. So, an IPTV receiver providing IPv4 is usable aswell.

In the CDN service, when an IPTV receiver is initially operated withdata provided by a service provider by receiving a power, CDNinformation is received from a service provider while IP is received bythe DHCP service. This information contains customer registration orauthentication of an IPTV provider and the above-explained PFinformations. As an IPTV receiver obtains CDN information from a serviceprovider, an IP broadcast signal reception is enabled.

A customer can have various kinds of IPTV receivers. A customer having anormal TV rents IPTV STB to enjoy an IPTV inexpensively. A serviceprovider pays an additional service charge with a low price and acustomer requests an IP phone to use together.

An IPTV receiver basically includes a network interface capable ofaccessing a network and has an Internet protocol. The IPTV receiverreceives and processes data packets coming from a network and then playsmultimedia data on a screen. In case of manipulating the IPTV receiverusing a remote controller, the IPTV receiver should make a response bysending data packets quickly via a network to obtain correspondinginformation from a server. In particular, the IPTV receiver is capableof operating to transmit user requested items bi-directionally whileprocessing multimedia data. And, buttons for IPTV can be provided to aremote controller to use the corresponding service well. So, a consumeris able to store and view a fine scene of a drama in the above-providedIPTV receiver and enjoy additional services including locationinformation, hotel reservation and the like.

Meanwhile, the above-mentioned NMS includes the function that a serviceprovider manages a network. And, the NMS helps the service providercontrol and manage an IPTV receiver of a consumer. If more IPTVreceivers are used and if more additional services are provided, therole of the NMS becomes more important. So, SNMP protocol becomesmandatory for an IPTV broadcast receiver. This is intended for a serviceprovider to manage and control an IPTV broadcast receiver. If so, anIPTV broadcast receiver is able to obtain details of statistical data ofa currently communicating protocol, information for a currently usedprocessor, information for a TV manufacturer, and the like.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system between a service provider and abroadcast receiver.

Referring to FIG. 4, a terminal of a service provider is capable ofbi-direction communication via an IP network. In particular, accordingto the present system, a broadcast receiver is capable of receiving abroadcast from a service provider and also capable of transmittinginformation for an environment of the broadcast receiver to the serviceprovider.

In this case, when the service provider collects to provide broadcastsignals to the broadcast receiver, a broadcast stream can include asingle or multi program. In case of attempting to transmit a transportstream via an IP network, IP capsulation is required.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for IP capsulation in case that a service providerprovides a service to a broadcast receiver via an IP network.

Referring to FIG. 5, an IP capsule can include an IP header, a UDPheader, an RTP header, and real data, i.e., a transport stream packet.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of receiving an adaptive broadcastsignal according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, a method of receiving an adaptive broadcast signalaccording to one embodiment of the present invention includes the stepsof linking an IP network, sending network environment information for abroadcast receiver and program selection information to a serviceprovider via the linked IP network, and providing the broadcast receiverwith at least one service in available service information for a programselected by a user based on the sent network environment information.

In the IP network linking step (S61), a terminal is connected to theservice provider via the IP network. In this case, a service providerdesignated as a default can be preferentially connected. In case thatsubscriptions are made to several service providers, it is able toselect a specific service provider to be connected.

The step of sending the network environment information for thebroadcast receiver and the program selection information to the serviceprovider via the linked IP network, which includes the step (S62) ofsending the network environment information for the broadcast receiverto the service provider and the step (S63) of selecting a program to beviewed by the user, is to send the network environment information tothe service provider to be provided with a service suitable for anetwork environment of the broadcast receiver.

In this case, the network environment information is a value fordetermining a network environment. For example, the network environmentinformation includes a network speed, a user level according to abilling system or the like. And, the network environment information maymean a case that a data rate varies according to the user level or acase that a type of contents provider to the broadcast receiver variesaccording to the user level. In this case, environment information for anetwork can be categorized according to a bandwidth. And, ‘differing inbandwidth’ means that ‘encoded at a different bit rate’.

The network environment information and the program selectioninformation, i.e., channel information are sent to the service provider.For instance, a user selects a channel No. 10 and sends networkenvironment information, e.g., network speed information according to anetwork environment or the like.

In the step of providing the broadcast receiver with the at least oneservice in the available service information for the program selected bythe user based on the sent network environment information, the serviceprovider selects at least one of available services and then providesthe selected at least one service to the broadcast receiver (S64).

If a bandwidth receivable by the broadcast receiver is 20˜80 Mbps in thechannel No. 10 selected by the user, program contents encoded into thebandwidth of 20˜80 Mbps among various encoded versions of retainedcontents of the channel No. 10 is provided to the broadcast receiver. Ifthe service provider fails to retain a broadcast stream encoded at thesame bit rate of the network environment of the broadcast receiver,contents encoded into a bandwidth closest to the bandwidth receivable bythe broadcast receiver is provided.

FIG. 7 is a detailed diagram for a method of receiving an adaptivebroadcast signal according to one embodiment of the present invention. Abroadcast signal receiving method between a service provider and abroadcast receiver is explained with reference to FIG. 7. In this case,steps explained in the following description are just exemplary but theclaims of the present invention are not restricted by the followingsteps or temporal sequence thereof.

Referring to FIG. 7, while a service provider is providing a broadcastservice (1), a power of a broadcast receiver is turned on (1).

If the power of the broadcast receiver is turned on, systeminitialization is carried out (2).

The system-initialized broadcast receiver searches for a connectableservice provider (3) or makes a connection to a service provider set toa default. In case that there are a plurality of connectable serviceproviders, a user is requested to make a selection. If so, the user isable to make a selection.

The broadcast receiver sends its authentication information while makinga request for a service connection to the service provider (3-1).

The service provider having received the authentication information forthe broadcast receiver performs a receiver authentication (4).

Once a qualification of the broadcast receiver is authenticated in theauthenticating step, available information on a subscribed service issent (4-1). In this case, the available information on the subscribedservice means available service information for a receivable physicalchannel.

The broadcast receiver performs service discovery (5). This is the stepof searching a service and deciding a service characteristic. Throughthis step, the broadcast receiver is connected to the service provider.

The broadcast receiver displays a service menu (6). Hence, the user isable to see an available service on the subscribed services.

The broadcast receiver sends an available resource, i.e., networkenvironment information to the service provider (7). In particular, anetwork environment value of the broadcast receiver, e.g., a networkspeed, a user level or the like is sent. The service provider havingreceived the network environment information compares various versionsof retained contents to options of the network environment information(8).

The broadcast receiver receives a program selection signal of the user(9) and then sends finally selected program selection information to theservice provider (9-1). In this case, the program selection in thebroadcast receiver and the selection signal sending to the serviceprovider can be carried out before the option comparing step (8) in theservice provider.

In particular, the network environment information is sent (7), thecorresponding option comparison is carried out (8), and the finallyselected program information is then sent. Alternatively, the networkenvironment information and the finally selected program information aresent and the option comparison can be then carried out on the retainedcontents for the selected program.

If the selected program information is sent to the service provider(9-1), the service provider searches for a display version closest to adisplay status as a result of the option comparison and then providesthe searched contents to the broadcast receiver, for the selectedprogram (10-1).

The broadcast receiver having received the contents provided by theservice provider displays the received contents (11).

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a data structure to send resource information fora broadcast receiver to a service provider from the broadcast receiveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, resolution information, audio codec information,video codec information, network information, and user level informationfor a broadcast receiver can be sent. In the present data structure,network information (e.g., network speed, etc.) or user levelinformation is used as an example for network environment information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for encoding of a bandwidth to support a serviceprovider with network environment information according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

A data structure shown in FIG. 10 will be explained with reference toFIG. 9 as follows.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a data structure to sent network environmentinformation for a broadcast receiver to a service provider from thebroadcast receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention.In the present invention, a network speed is used as an example fornetwork environment information.

Referring to FIG. 10, a network speed (network information: NI) datastructure is a means for informing a service provider of information fora network speed receivable by a broadcast receiver. And, network speedinformation for the broadcast receiver is included in the datastructure. And, the service provider is made to send contents encoded ata corresponding bit rate.

The NI data structure is configured to include information which canspecify and represent a network speed as a code value field or a textfield. For instance, if a network speed of a broadcast receiver isrepresented as a bandwidth of 20˜80 Mbps, it is able to insert characterinformation of 20˜80 Mbps or ‘2’ of the code value shown in FIG. 9 inthe data structure.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an adaptive broadcast receiver accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, an adaptive broadcast receiver according to oneembodiment of the present invention includes a network interface unittransceiving a broadcast stream capsulated into an IP packet byconnecting the broadcast receiver to a service provider via a network, acontrol unit controlling contents encoded at a bit rate suitable for anetwork environment of the broadcast receiver to be received in a mannerof sending network environment information for the broadcast receiver tothe service provider via the network interface unit, and a display unitoutputting the received broadcast stream.

Detailed configuration of the broadcast receiver is explained asfollows.

First of all, the broadcast receiver includes a network interface unit102, an IP manager 104, a control unit 106, a channel manager 108, aservice information decoder 110, a service information database 112, aservice discovery manager 114, a service control manager 116, a CAS/DRMunit 118, a service delivery manager 120, a demultiplexer 122, anaudio/video decoder 124, a display unit 126, a storage unit 128, and asystem manager 130.

The network interface unit 102 receives packets received from a networkand transmits a packet to the network from the broadcast receiver. Inparticular, the network interface unit 102 receives an adaptivebroadcast signal of the present invention from a service provider of thepresent invention via the network.

The IP manager 104 manages a packet delivery to a destination from asource for the packets received or transmitted by the broadcastreceiver. And, the IP manager 104 sorts the received packets tocorrespond to a suitable protocol.

The control unit 106 controls an application and an overall operation ofthe broadcast receiver according to a user input signal by controlling auser interface (not shown in the drawing). The control unit 106 providesa graphic user interface (GUI) for a user using an OSD (on screendisplay) or the like. The control unit 106 receives an input signal fromthe user and then performs a receiver operation according to thecorresponding input. For instance, if a key input concerning a channelselection is inputted by a user, the control unit 106 sends a channelselection input signal to the channel manager 108.

The control unit 106 controls contents encoded at a bit rate suitablefor a network environment of the broadcast receiver to be received in amanner of sending network environment information for the broadcastreceiver to the service provider via the network interface unit 102.

The channel manager 108 stores received channel information and thengenerates a channel map. The channel manager 108 selects a channelaccording to the key input received from the control unit 106 andcontrols the service discovery manager 114.

The channel manager 108 receives service information for a channel fromthe service information decoder 110 and performs audio/video PID (packetidentifier) setting of the selected channel on the demultiplexer 122.

The service information decoder 110 decodes such service information asPSI (program specific information). In particular, the serviceinformation decoder 110 receives and decodes PSI table, PSIP (programand service information protocol) table, DVB-SI (service information)table or the like demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 122.

The service information decoder 110 decodes the received serviceinformation tables, generates a database for the service information,and then stores the generated database for the service information inthe service information database 112.

The service discovery manager 114 provides information necessary toselect a service provider which provides a service. If a signal for achannel selection is received from the control unit 106, the servicediscovery manager 114 searches for a service provider using theinformation.

The service control manager 116 is responsible for a selection andcontrol of a service. For instance, if a user selects a livebroadcasting service as good as a conventional broadcasting type, theservice control manager 116 performs the selection and control of theservice using IGMP or RTSP. If a user selects such a service as VOD(video on demand), the service control manager 116 performs theselection and control of the service using RTSP. In this case, the RTSP(real-time streaming protocol) can provide a trick mode for a real-timestreaming.

The packet for the service received via the network interface unit 102and the IP manager 104 is sent to the CAS/DRM unit 118. The CAS/DRM unit118 is responsible for CAS (conditional access system) of service andDRM (digital rights management).

The service delivery manager 120 is responsible for control of thereceived service data.

For instance, in case of controlling real-time streaming data, RTP/RTCP(real-time transport protocol/RTP control protocol) is used. If thereal-time streaming data is transported using the RTP, the servicedelivery manager 120 parses the received data packet according to theRTP and then sends the parsed packet to the demultiplexer 122. And, theservice delivery manager 120 feeds back the network receptioninformation to a server side providing the service using the RTCP. Inthis case, the real-time streaming data can be capsulated by UDP withoutRTP and then directly delivered.

The demultiplexer 122 demultiplexes the received packet into audio data,video data and PSI (program specific information) data and then sendsthe data to the video/audio decoder 124 and the service informationdecoder 110, respectively.

The video/audio decoder 124 decodes the video and audio data receivedfrom the demultiplexer 122. And, the video/audio data decoded by thevideo/audio decoder 124 is provided to the user via the display unit126.

The storage unit 128 stores setup data for system and the like. In thiscase, the storage unit 128 can include a nonvolatile memory such as anonvolatile RAM (NVRAM), a flash memory, and the like.

And, the system manager 130 controls overall operations of the broadcastreceiver via a power system.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the implementations withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the above implementations. Thus,other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method of receiving an adaptive broadcast signal comprising the steps of validating an IP network; sending network environment information of a receiver and service selection information to a service provider via the validated IP network; and receiving at least one media service among available media services of a selected service that is transmitted from the service provider according to the network environment information.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network environment information comprises network speed information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the network environment information comprises user level information according to a billing system.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein in the step of sending the network environment information of the receiver and the service selection information to the service provider, a data structure representing the network environment information of the receiver as at least one selected from the group consisting of a code value (code_value) field and a text field is sent to the service provider.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of deciding a contents version to be sent to the broadcast receiver in a manner of comparing the network environment information to contents information.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one contents version is decided for the selected service and then provided to the broadcast receiver.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein a broadcast content that is encoded at a bit rate suitable for the network environment information of the broadcast receiver is provided to the broadcast receiver.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein broadcast content to be provided to the broadcast receiver is decided by the service provider among broadcast contents encoded at the various bit rate according to a category of a data rate.
 9. An adaptive broadcast receiver comprising: a network interface unit transceiving a broadcast stream capsulated into an IP packet by connecting the broadcast receiver to a service provider via a network; a control unit controlling contents encoded at a bit rate suitable for a network environment of the broadcast receiver to be received in a manner of sending network environment information of the broadcast receiver to the service provider via the network interface unit; and a display unit outputting the received broadcast stream.
 10. The adaptive broadcast receiver of claim 9, wherein the network environment information comprises network speed information.
 11. The adaptive broadcast receiver of claim 9, wherein the network environment information comprises user level information according to a billing system.
 12. The adaptive broadcast receiver of claim 9, wherein the network environment information is sent as a data structure to the service provider and wherein the data structure represents the network environment information as at least one selected from the group consisting of a code value (code_value) field and a text field.
 13. The adaptive broadcast receiver of claim 9, further comprising an IP manager unit managing a packet delivery to a destination from a source for a packet received via the network interface unit and a packet sent by the broadcast receiver.
 14. The adaptive broadcast receiver of claim 9, further comprising: a service discovery manager providing information necessary to select the service provider providing a service; and a service control manager responsible for a selection and control of the service. 